Looking Inside
by Heaven's Dusk
Summary: Eri looks at Shiki's new friends sometimes and wonders. Nevertheless, she cares about them, even if she doesn't understand them.
_**I'm supposed to be writing Hetalia fics, but I'm not really all that into that anymore. My desperate search for something new to get in to continues, but for now, at least there's this. I recently got into TWEWY so yeah. I like outsider POVs idk.**_

* * *

One day, Shiki replies to her text saying that she can't hang out that day. Eri understands that. That was completely _fine_ , even if she had wanted to spend time with her best friend after literal _weeks_ of not seeing her. She wasn't sure where Shiki had been, and she never explained it to her, so she never asked. Still, she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her shy little friend to make up for that.

Eri tries asking for an explanation, but Shiki never responds. With a sigh, Eri decides to hang out with Mina and Ai again.

She's shopping when she sees a group standing in front of Hachiko. She thinks she can recognize them, but only vaguely. She'd seen them around the city, but she never actually talked to them. She thinks she should when she sees Shiki run up to them with the biggest-albeit still hesitant-smile on her face.

(Eri thinks it's been forever since she's seen that smile)

The group all greets her with grins and the orange-haired one says something that makes her huff and blush brightly. They laugh and Eri can't help but wonder when Shiki met these three and became so close that she began to smile like _that_ again.

They began to leave and Eri almost follows them. Mina gets her attention before she can, and by the time she gets her head out of clothes and trends, Shiki and her new friends are long gone.

* * *

"Hey, I saw you out by Hachiko the other day," Eri brings up casually while watching Shiki sew in her room. Shiki's hands falter for a moment before she continues her work. Eri's not sure why she's making a sweater with a peculiar skull design on it, but she doesn't ask.

"Did you?" Shiki responds. "When was this?"

"A few days ago, maybe?" Eri shrugs. "I saw you with that weird kid that's always hanging around Udagawa. You were with a delinquent and some blonde girl too." Shiki laughs and looks up from the sweater.

"Beat's not a delinquent," she tells her. "He's actually really sweet."

"Beat, huh?" Eri raised an eyebrow. _Weird name_ , she muses.

"I suppose I should introduce you to them," Shiki continues, a smile making its way to her face. "They've been wanting to meet you for a while now. We meet every Sunday by Hachiko if you want to come."

"Hell yeah I wanna meet them!" Eri exclaims. "Gotta make sure they're treating my best friend right, you know?" She giggles, and Shiki laughs. (It's bright and happy and _wow_ Eri hasn't heard something so beautiful in years)

"Well, that settles it then," Shiki says. "I'll introduce you to them on Sunday. You'll love them, I promise."

"If you like them, I'll like them," Eri tells her.

* * *

"It's about time ya introduced us, Shiki!" the delinquent – Beat, Eri recalled – says upon seeing Eri. She feels a bit of pride at the fact that Shiki talked about her often enough for them to recognize her without having ever seen her. The orange-haired one in the horrible purple shirt looks a little bewildered at her presence, and he exchanges looks with the blonde girl.

"Haha, sorry guys." Shiki grins sheepishly. "Everyone, this is Eri! Eri, the one you called a delinquent is Beat. That's his little sister, Rhyme, and this spicy tuna roll is Neku!"

"I thought we were past that 'spicy tuna roll' thing!'" Neku groans, glaring at Shiki, who just laughs in return.

"I am never letting it go!" she declares, grinning cheekily this time. "Now, where are we all going to eat?"

"How's about ramen again?" Beat suggests. "I could really go for some curry!"

"Beat, you can always go for some curry," Rhyme sighs.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Beat rolls his eyes.

"Well, if you want ramen, there's always that really amazing Shadow Ramen place!" Eri exclaims. She never actually had a chance to eat there, but she heard great things about it. There were rumors even the Prince had F-ed it at one point.

"What do you guys say?" Shiki looks at her friends. Neku looks vaguely uncomfortable at the thought.

"How about we try Doi's place instead?" he suggests.

"Who?"

"He's the guy who makes the best curry ramen in tha world, yo!" Beat exclaims, gesturing wildly with his arms. Rhyme giggles and nods in agreement.

"Eri, you have to try his ramen!" Shiki gushes. "It really is so good!"

"Are you sure?" Eri asks skeptically. She's never heard of whoever they're talking about. When Shiki looks at her with those eyes, though, she has to give in.

When they get their food in the small little ramen shop, she has to admit that the food is rather good. It's probably the best ramen she's ever actually tasted.

"See? I told you!" Shiki beams before beginning to dig in again.

"Nothin' better than the simple things!" Beat declares, devouring the food like he hasn't eaten in days.

"Beat, pace yourself," Rhyme scolds softly. Beat swallows and nods, significantly slowing down.

"Besides, the one guy at the other place still thinks Phones has a crush on 'im," Beats adds, smirking as Neku's face colors.

"We agreed not to talk about that!" he says.

"There are things we agreed not to talk about, and there are things you say never to mention," Shiki teases. "And then there's that one boy at that shop…"

"Shiki stop!" Neku's face turns even brighter as the two tease him about his misfortunes.

By the end of the day, Eri concludes that Shiki's new friends are weird, but they're – ultimately – very kind people. She tells Shiki of her approval, and her best friend is so utterly _happy_ that Eri is stunned for five seconds.

(It occurs to her that these people have made Shiki smile in ways that she hasn't seen in so long, and for some reason, it absolutely _burns_ but so long as they continue to make her happy, she'll continue to like them even through the jealousy.

 _Jealousy? What jealousy?_ )

* * *

Neku and Shiki are close, Eri notices. She and Shiki would run into him on occasion while out shopping, and it's easy for Shiki and him to slip into casual talk and banter with inside jokes that she couldn't hope to understand.

Eri watches as Shiki tries forcing Neku into something or other, singing "Spicy tuna roll~" as he snaps at her to shut up with no bite in his voice. Shiki easily grabs Neku's hand and drags him from one store to the next, pointing out the trends with awe and reverence. Neku looks annoyed, but Eri can see the fondness in his eyes.

Eri can't possibly begin to understand their relationship. It's something complex, and more trusting than she's ever seen before. It's not blatantly obvious, but Eri always notices things about the girl she values more than anyone else.

"What's your relationship with Neku?" Eri asks when Shiki is adjusting a pin on one of her dresses hanging from her closet door.

"I guess you could say… we're Partners," Shiki says vaguely. Eri doesn't understand the wistful smile on her face as she lightly touches the skull pin on her pink dress.

She settles for watching them when they meet up again the next day.

"Shiki, there is no _way_ I am letting you drag me back there!" Neku is protesting, trying to pull away from the girl's mighty grip on his arm.

"Oh come _on_ , he's not going to hold a grudge against you!" Shiki exclaims, the exasperation evident in her voice. "That was _sixth months_ _ago_! It wasn't your fault to begin with!"

"It was my fault!" Neku argues, and Eri wants to throttle him for making Shiki gain a pitying and sad look.

"No it was not!" Shiki says stubbornly. "We are going to A-East whether you like it or not!"

"Wait, why are we going to A-East?" Eri asks. She hadn't been paying much attention the conversation – more focused on Neku and Shiki's easy movements around each other – and so hadn't paid much attention their surroundings. "Isn't that where _the_ 777 has been holding his concerts?"

"Yeah, I wanted to pop by and see if I could at least say something to him," Shiki explains.

"You just want me to talk to him," Neku grumbled. "I can't just talk to him like nothing happened!"

"I've talked to him, and I'm telling you, he doesn't _care_!" Shiki insists. "Why are you so stubborn about this?"

"Why are you?" Neku counters. Eri's trying to wrap her head around the argument, and then their words come crashing down on her.

"When did you two meet 777?" she shrieks. Neku gives Shiki a glare that says 'Now look what you've done' but Eri demands explanations before they could continue their argument.

She doesn't get many answers, but she does learn that Neku has connections with the _Prince of Ennui_ of all people – who was the one to have called him a spicy tuna roll – and she thinks she can forget her jealousy for a little while.

* * *

There's a time on their normal Sunday get-togethers when Neku arrives at the ramen shop late with a look as if he's seen a ghost. He's pale and his eyes are wide and not all there. Shiki and Beat lead him to his normal spot and somehow manage to get him to snap out of it.

He murmurs a few words to them, and Shiki gasps while Beat clenches his fists.

"Oh Neku…" Shiki whispers, and wraps him up in a hug. Eri crushes the feeling of jealousy burning up inside her once more. It looks as though Neku is hurting, and he had become her close friend in the three months she got to know him. It would do no good if she were to be jealous at this time.

"Jus' say the word, Phones, and I'll happily beat 'im to a pulp," Beat offers, his eyes hard with anger that Eri has never seen before.

"Let it go, Beat," Neku tells him. He sounds tired. "I'll handle it, okay?"

"Tsk." Beat shakes his head. Eri looks at Rhyme, who looks just as confused as Eri. The younger girl tries to get answers out of them, but they won't talk, so they eventually give up and just order their food as always.

It's like Shiki, Beat, and Neku are keeping a closely guarded secret, and Eri has never felt more lost.

* * *

For a while, it's as though Neku is a ghost. He's shaken and unusually jumpy and he relies on Shiki so often that Eri has found him sleeping in Shiki's bed at times.

"What's going on with him?" Eri tries asking for the nth time, both worried and irritated by his actions. She hates whatever is making her friend so scared, but she also hates that he has begun barging in on Shiki so often.

Shiki just shakes her head with a sad look on her face. "He's just having some trouble with a… an old friend. He needs all the support he can get." She looks at the sleeping boy on her bed with the bags under his eyes and gently takes his hand.

It's such an intimate action. Eri can see the warmth and affection hidden under brown eyes, and her heart hurts again. _When did you start flying away from me, Shiki?_

It's two weeks before Neku disappears almost completely, and Eri can practically sense the waves of worry coming off of the other three, but most notably, Shiki and Beat. The only reason they don't report to the police is because Neku occasionally sends texts, and Rhyme explains that this isn't exactly strange.

It's another week before Neku is entering the café with tanner skin and a grin on his face, a light-haired youth trailing behind him with a handsome and smug little smirk on his face.

Shiki and Beat exchange bewildered looks as the two approach the table.

"Rhyme, Eri, this is Kiryuu Yoshiya," Neku introduces, looking and sounding much healthier than he has in a month. "He goes by Joshua. Josh, this is Rhyme and Eri." Joshua raises an eyebrow as he looks at Eri, and somehow, his smile unsettles her.

"Oh?" he drawls. "It's a pleasure to meet the both of you. And it's nice seeing the two of you again." He addresses Beat and Shiki in that last sentence. Eri can see the way Shiki's jaw tenses and Beat's hands twitch.

"Yeah, you too," Beat responds in between gritted teeth.

"Be nice you two," Neku scolds, a small frown making its way upon his face.

"It's alright, dear," Joshua says, looking at the bright-haired boy beside him with a significantly softer look. "They have every right to be upset." Neku looks at him and nods slowly. He looks and Beat and Shiki again and whispers something to them. They nod, and Beat whispers something to Rhyme in return.

Eri feels horribly left out.

* * *

Eri spends the next couple of weeks observing the new character that's integrated himself into their little group. After that first day, Shiki and Beat started relaxing around him and Rhyme seems to be wary but kind as always. Eri takes the usually sweet girl's worry to mean that she should be cautious around the boy too. If he was any sort of possible danger to Neku, she wanted to make sure he was acceptable.

It's not hard to keep a look out on him. Eri finds that he and Neku are almost inseparable. She frequently finds them sitting together in a nifty little place on Cat Street called WildKat. They're usually arguing or talking to the owner, Mr. Hanekoma.

Eri comes to realize that their arguments hold next to no anger at all, and there's something different about the way they hold themselves around each other. It's easy for Joshua to lean closer than was probably necessary, and Neku likes to drop his head on Joshua's shoulder with the excuse of being tired. They drop little inside jokes and Neku always blushes at Joshua's nicknames, but he never actively protests them.

Eri's suspicions are proven correct when they walk into the ramen shop together like always on Sunday, except Neku's hair in messier than normal and his face is bright red and Joshua has a shit-eating grin on his face. Beat wastes no time teasing Neku until he snaps and pours soup over his head – and then hits Joshua over the head for good measure.

"I've accepted you for now," Eri says when she manages to get Joshua alone for once, "but don't think you'll be getting out alive if I hear a single bad word about you from Neku or Shiki." Neku was her friend, and she'd be damned if she let some boy hurt him like he had during that horrible month. Joshua pauses and looks at her, unaffected and looking amused at her threat.

"Is that so?" he purrs. "Don't worry, I have no intention of harming him. He's my dear Partner, after all." He brushes passed her and greets Neku a little ways away while Eri takes time to process his words.

He used that same word – "Partner" – that Shiki had used in the past when describing her relationship with Neku. Somehow, the word seemed like more when he said it with that lilt in his voice. His voice is hard, yet soft and Eri isn't blind to the way they hold themselves around one another.

At last, Eri comes to a realization, and she feels increasingly lighter. There was no need to be so jealous of Neku and Shiki. Neku already had someone else on his mind.

(Maybe it's about time Eri started paying attention to how Shiki acted with her)


End file.
